Harry Potter author JK Rowling has always been known for her love of privacy, and rightly so: when you have as many fans as she does, you don't necessarily want them peering through your windows.

She now lives in Barnton near Cramond in a stunning but almost entirely hidden multi-million pound 17th-century mansion - including two 'Harry Potter' style £40,000 treehouses, and has cultivated 30 feet tall leylandii hedges that form a towering screen all around her property.

Read More

However, these massive plants need a lot of TLC to prevent them becoming overgrown.

The last time they needed to be extensively trimmed (in 2015) it took three days, involved cherry pickers, and the council had to put up temporary traffic lights to allow the work to be carried out safely which caused delays and tailbacks in the area.

"The hedges are obviously to stop people looking into her property," one neighbour told the Telegraph.

"It's just taking ages for them to cut the bush back. The gardeners have been here three days and have finished the front of the garden.